Introducing: Koala Voice

Koala Voice are a disco tinged garage indie band from the town of Kisovec in Slovenia. I know, another one! Formed in 2010, their debut album Kangaroo’s A Neighbour was released in 2015, finding success in their home country with a fan base made up of “independent music lovers and an almost mainstream audience” as (slightly confusingly) described in their bio.

The group’s music contains parts of indie pop, the punkier side of Blondie’s output and the jangling lo-fi guitars of surf rock. The marriage of these elements provides a bouncing, carefree backing to the vocals of singer and guitarist Manca Trampuš. Trampuš’ voice is probably the most striking facet of Koala Voice’s sound. Although the lyrics are primarily written in English, her accent lends a real distinctive twang to her energetic delivery, particularly on the single “Nothing”; if you can imagine a central European Brody Dalle then you aren’t far off.

If the above has piqued your interest then the first track you should rush to listen to is “Go Disco, Go”. A snappy pop song anchored on the pounding rhythm section of brothers Miha and Tilen Prašnikar and with a chorus that is the very definition of the phrase ‘earworm’, it more or less tells you all you could need to know about the band in the space of two short minutes. “The Great White Buffalo” is another standout, with a much sparser backing which provides an excellent showcase of Domen Don Holc’s guitar work.

This summer has seen the band the band hit the European festival circuit hard with their energetic live show, having played such large events as Hamburg’s Reeperbahn festival and EXIT in Serbia. With a new album in the offing and with growing interest from UK media (DIY Mag named them amongst their best discoveries at Eurosonic), Koala Voice could and indeed should definitely be cementing their “almost mainstream” status throughout the rest of Europe in the next few years.

Find out more about Koala Voice here and listen to "Go Disco, Go" below.